Abstract
Stingrays are a group of rays – cartilaginous fish related to sharks – that have whiplike tails with barbed, usually venomous spines and are found around the world, especially the marine species. Despite recent reports of accidents involving these fish, they are not aggressive, reacting only when stepped on or improperly handled. Injuries by stingrays are seldom mentioned by historians, although they have always been present in riverine communities of inland waters and in South American coasts. Indeed, envenomations by stingrays are quite common in freshwater and marine fishing communities. Although having high morbidity, such injuries are neglected because they have low lethality and usually occur in remote areas, which favor the use of folk remedies. In the present review article, historical aspects of injuries caused by stingrays in Brazil and their distribution on the coast of São Paulo state and riverine communities of the North, Midwest and Southeast regions were studied. In addition, other aspects were analyzed such as clinical features, therapeutic methods, preventive measures and trends in occurrence of these accidents in the country, particularly in areas in which freshwater stingrays had not been previously registered, being introduced after breaching of natural barriers.
Highlights
Stingrays are not aggressive by nature, they only react when people step on them or handle them improperly
Historical aspects of injuries caused by stingrays in Brazil are commented
Their distribution is studied; they are found throughout São Paulo state coast as well as in riverside communities of the North, Midwest and Southeast regions of the country (Figure 1)
Summary
Stingrays are not aggressive by nature, they only react when people step on them or handle them improperly. Southeast/Midwest regions stingrays have been observed in the rivers of the Plata Basin since the colonization of South America, there are still many taxonomic uncertainties since these initial reports of the Figure 5 Potamotrygon motoro, the most common species of freshwater stingray This ray is found in most regions of Brazil. Freshwater stingray injuries are more severe than those caused by marine animals, considering skin necrosis as a parameter, since the pain is intense in both accidents (Figure 8). Haddad Jr. et al [6] and Barbaro et al [47], comparing tissue samples from stings of Dasyatis guttata and Potamotrygon falkneri demonstrated that the skin necrosis observed in laboratory animals were more intense in mice injected with extracts derived from freshwater stingrays than those from marine rays as prevously observed during the assistance of stingray victims. This reinforces the concept that rays are not animals that usually attack humans, using their stingers only to self-defense
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